Fairy Lights
by technicolortardis
Summary: It had been love at first sight for Clay, and true to form, Juniper had eyes only for Apollo. When Athena's plan to have Apollo spend a whole day out with Juniper fails, it's Clay who finds himself spending time with her instead. Eventual twoshot.


It had been love at first sight for Clay. He was head over heels for Juniper Woods, and for the second time in his life, jealous of Apollo, who had won her affections without even trying and seemed blissfully unaware of it, unable to comprehend why Clay didn't just tell Juniper how he felt.

"It's not like you to be so afraid of telling a girl you like her."

"I'm not afraid," Clay said. "There's just no point in making her feel guilty. I'm positive beyond doubt that she doesn't reciprocate my feelings."

"How?"

"It's very obvious to me she likes someone else. I'm not sure if she's aware he doesn't feel the same, or if she's just too shy to tell him."

"So you know he doesn't like her back?"

"Yeah, I'm certain. I figured I'd try and woo June, but it really hasn't been working. I don't think she even notices. She just thinks I'm a nice guy. I'm no knight in shining armor."

Apollo laughed. "I don't think Juniper likes that kind of guy, do you?"

"She seems to think of the guy she likes as one."

"Oh, well..."

"I'm not June's type," Clay said irritably.

"You might not be a knight in armour, but girls at school always thought of you as a prince. Doesn't hurt you sound like one."

"That doesn't mean anything when Juniper is in love with a knight."

"I can talk to Athena for you about Juniper."

"Your terrifying red-headed co-worker will just chase me off of pursuing June. She's scarier than Valerie's dad was, and he threatened me with a loaded shotgun."

Apollo snorted with laughter. "Isn't he the one who did everything he could to be the perfect scary dad?"

"Yes. He was actually disappointed I brought his daughter home at exactly nine like I said. Valerie told me at school the next day that he was upset that he couldn't yell at me for trying to get rid of her too early, or yell at me for having her out too late. What's annoying is Val wasn't even my girlfriend. I picked her up for theatre practice."

"Which show was it again? Cuz you and Valerie were almost always posed as romantic opposites."

"I vividly remember what it was, because you wouldn't shut up singing your song in the car."

"Uh... which was that? Because I did that all the time."

"Did? Apollo, you sing showtunes in the shower, and if I have to hear you sing 'Music of the Night' one more time, I'll shoot myself. Or shoot you. Don't get me wrong, you have the sexiest singing voice I've ever heard, but I can only take listening to the songs you sing for so long."

Apollo flushed. "Can't you just say I have a nice voice?"

"No, because that doesn't annoy you," Clay said cheerfully. "Or make you turn red. You know I only hit on you because your reactions are funny, right?"

"I thought you did it to be annoying?"

"Oh, well, that's a perk. But really, if girls can compliment and practically flirt with each other, then guys can, too."

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't flirt with me," Apollo said crossly.

"Doesn't everyone love being hit on by a tall, handsome, dark-eyed astronaut with the voice of a fairytale prince?" Clay batted his lashes.

"I guess I just can't appreciate your charms," Apollo said dully, still scowling.

* * *

Clay was woken earlier than he would have liked on his day off by Apollo, who looked frazzled. "Will you wake up!?"

"Whuzzar?"

Apollo pulled his waistcoat on irritably, throwing Clay an impatient glare as he pulled his sleeves straight.

"Listen, yesterday I told Athena I'd go meet Juniper for lunch and stuff. I guess Athena's still not feeling too good, or something, but I can't go, either. So, do you want to go in my place? Go spend a day with Juniper?"

Clay stared at him, still half-asleep. "What?"

"I got called in to work just now," Apollo said, throwing his tie around his neck. "I can't just cancel on Juniper, I guess she and Athena had planned this out or whatever, but she called in sick yesterday and she can't make it today. Do you want to go out with Juniper or not?"

Clay blinked. "But... isn't she expecting you?"

Clays's immediately thought was that Athena was attempting to set Juniper and Apollo on a date, but had a strong feeling Apollo had no idea.

"Yeah, but I have work, like I just said, I can't go with her," said Apollo, smoothing his waistcoat. "There's some kind of emergency with paperwork at the office and since I handle it, I have to go sort it out. Athena's going to murder me for this."

"S-sure, I guess I can," Clay flushed. "But wouldn't she rather see you? I-I mean she actually knows you."

Apollo shrugged. "It should be all right. Juniper knows you and she likes you well enough. There's nothing I can do except cancel, and I don't want to do that to her. Athena will have my head, for starters."

"Y-yeah, but... I can't just..." Clay sighed, getting out of bed. "Yeah. Yeah, I can do that. Sure. But what do I do if your terrifying red-headed co-worker-?"

"Athena won't do anything to you, especially if you're doing us a favour. She said to dress kinda nice, do you need to borrow anything?"

"Oh, uh, I guess. And some advice."

Apollo laughed. "I hope you don't mean dating advice. Because I know nothing about dating. You're the one with the dating experience."

"Yeah, but she likes you."

"She likes you, too," Apollo said, a naive smile on his face.

Clay sighed, getting out of bed. "Yeah, I know..."

"You sure this looks good?" Clay asked sceptically ten minutes later. "I look like... I dunno... you. But sexier. Actually, I think I like this. Could do with a different shirt, though, this one's a bit tight. Though I'm surprised anything you own fits me, cuz your clothing is pretty fitted."

"Sometimes if I order online, the stuff is too big. Just haven't had the time or anything to take it all to the tailors."

"That's what you get for being so short, lean and skinny," Clay said, prodding Apollo in the side and making him skirk away. "I know you have muscles because I drag you to the gym with me, but nobody would know that from looking at you."

"Franziska thinks I'm attractive," Apollo muttered, his back to Clay as he rummaged in his closet. "Oh, here."

He swung a different shirt over his shoulder. "See if this fits."

"Ooh, snazzy," Clay said, taking the hanger. "Thanks. By the way, about this nerdy but chic sweater. Since when did you wear blue? And is this cashmere?"

"Uh... I usually don't but I didn't pick this out, my girlfriend did, and yes, it is."

"Girlfriend?" Clay spluttered, halfway through undressing again. "Who, when, how, and where?!"

"That was a joke," Apollo said, glancing at him with a grin. "Wanted to see how you'd react."

"Oh, bummer, I thought you'd decided to get a life. So who picked it out?"

"My co-worker and technically superior, Trucy."

"Oh, the cute, energetic one. Magician, right?"

"Yeah. And there's something that I hate about you calling her cute... she's like a little sister to me."

"That would be the something," Clay said casually, checking his appearance. "Damn, you have pretty good taste, Apollo."

"I'm an attorney, I have to dress nicely," Apollo folded his arms. "At least, one that takes my profession seriously."

"Yeah, but you dress pretty nice all the time. Always have. Girls like that about you. It's just your style, like how I wear lazy people clothes and jeans. I might have to have a few outfits like this."

"You can have that one, if you want."

Clay sat down on Apollo's bed, cell phone at hand as Apollo finally began to dress for the day. "Oh, wow... she's beautiful. Who is this woman?"

"How the hell should I know? I can't see what you're looking at."

"Short hair, stunning grey eyes... the sunlight's hitting her beautifully out of this window. Bit of a smile, beauty mark-"

"Why are you looking at the pictures on my phone!?" Apollo strode over, snatching it back from Clay, his face very pale, except for the bright red flush on his cheeks.

"Cuz I picked up yours instead of mine, and you had her picture up. Who is she?"

Apollo sighed, ignoring the question and picking up his waistcoat.

"Apollo, I'm serious, who is she? Are you stalking this girl-?"

"First off, she's 31, so she's not 'a girl', second, I'm not stalking her, I work with her, and third, her name is Franziska von Karma. She's a prosecutor. She hates having her picture taken, but I needed it for my contacts, so I took the candid photo. We were having lunch in the same place when on a case, so we shared a table. I took the opportunity."

"So this is the illustrious Ms von Karma...? Wow. What did you say to her to get her to smile like that?" Clay tactfully chose not to ask why he had her picture up if she was just a prosecutor.

"Nothing that I remember. We were talking about the case, and she just... looked away, smiling like that. She doesn't know I took it, either."

"She's beautiful," Clay said again.

"She is," Apollo agreed. "Even without the perfect lighting. It's such a nice... perk of working with her. I get to admire her beauty across the courtroom for hours and nobody notices."

Clay laughed. "I've never known you to be so enamoured with someone before, no matter how pretty. She must be something, for you to be so interested."

"Erk..." Apollo tensed up. "Well..."

"So you do have a crush! I knew it! That's why you've got her picture up and why you talk about her so much!"

"I talk about her because I work with her damn near every day!"

"Yeah, but you don't talk about your coworkers like that or all that often. Not compared to her. Hey, I am absolutely not one to judge on your crushes, since this is the first one I've ever known you to have. It's cute you've got a crush on her. I'll be nice and only tease you when nobody is around to hear it."

"C-Clay-!"

"I think it's nice how you've finally found someone who caught your interest," Clay said, standing up and checking his watch. "Anyway, I'm going to get going. Early is on time, on time is late, you know the prime directive."

"That's not the prime directive. The prime directive prohibits Starfleet personnel from interfering with the internal development of alien civilization."

"Yeah, but the prime directive of any dating or performance is different. Early is on time, on time is late, and I forget what 'late' is but I'm pretty sure it meant I was going to die horrifically at the hands of our music teachers."

Apollo gave a small laugh. "You're meeting her at Strawberry Park. By the fountain."

"Awesome," Clay grinned, pocketing his mobile and wallet. "I'll be off, then."

"Tell Juniper I'm really sorry!" Apollo called down the hall.

Clay gave a wave of his hand to show he understood as he left the flat. He stuck his head back in a minute later. "Do you want a lift to work?"

Apollo shook his head. "No. It's out of your way."

"Okay," Clay shrugged. "Suit yourself. See ya. Have fun at work. Sign those papers. Go do legal things, whatever it is you do."

He was more than half an hour early, sitting in the mist that still hadn't yet faded from the morning. The park was beautiful like that. Clay found himself talking to a teenager waiting for his own date. A first date, by the sounds of it.

"... Clay?"

Juniper stood there, her hair up in a large, untidy bun and decorated, as usual, with a large sunflower. She looked politely confused and slightly disappointed, an expression Clay had fully anticipated. He smiled at her, standing up.

"Hi, you're kinda stuck with me today," he said apologetically, not entirely able to keep the hurt out of his voice. "Apollo couldn't make it, something came up at work, since Athena's not there, either."

"Oh," Juniper tugged on a loose curl of hair. "I see."

An awkward silence fell. Clay stepped back, his face feeling hot. He really hadn't prepared himself properly for her total disappointment.

"Ms Woods, I- I'm sorry, I know- I know I'm not what you expected or-or..."

Clay ran is hands through his hair, turning his back on her, muttering furiously to himself. "She doesn't want to see you, you idiot..."

Clay's heart seemed to stop when Juniper slipped her hand in his, the cool morning air standing still. Her hand was so small in his.

"It's fine," she said softly, her other hand on his arm.

"You sure? I-I mean, I know you were looking forward to spending today with Apollo."

"Huh?"

Clay gave a wry smile. "Nothing. The crepe stand in the park just opened for the day. Did you have breakfast yet?"

Juniper shook her head gently. "No, I wanted to be on time... so..."

Clay smiled at her, warm and bright now. "Have you tried their crepes? They're pretty good."

Juniper shook her head again. "No, but Thena says they're really good, too. They grow the strawberries here in the park."

"Well, it is called Strawberry Park."

Juniper smiled, letting go of Clay. "Have you ever picked the strawberries here?"

"I honestly have not," Clay admitted. "Have you?"

Juniper nodded. "Thena and I came when we were kids for a field trip, and we came every year after that until Thena left. We didn't get a chance last year, and were going to today, but..."

"You're stuck with me instead?"

"Stuck? Oh, no."

Clay tucked his hands in his pockets. "I was teasing, Ms Woods."

"Clay, it's perfectly fine to call me Juniper. Or Junie, if you like."

"I, uh, thought that was um... Athena's nickname for you."

Juniper smiled. "I don't mind."

Clay felt himself blushing furiously. "I-I don't think she'd like if I used her nickname for you. So, uh, June-Juniper it is."

He tensed when he stumbled on her name, worried she'd caught him. She just continued to smile serenely, adjusting her crochet cardigan as they stepped up to the crepe stand.

"You look really nice, by the way," Clay told her, fighting to keep his blush down. "Really... very beautiful."

Juniper smiled warmly. "Thank you, Clay. That's sweet. You look really nice today yourself. I really like this sweater. It's blue like my grandmother's hydrangeas. It's so bright, I really like it."

Clay smiled, making a mental note to thank Apollo when he got home. "Blue's a nice colour. And uh, it looks grood with brown. I-I mean good. Good with brown. It looks good with brown. Uh, blue does."

Juniper giggled. "I agree."

Clay's face felt like it was on fire, feeling rather stupid. Juniper seemed not to notice, stepping up to the cashier and placing their orders- two fresh strawberry crepes. In the back of his head, Clay was strongly reminded of how popular crepes were for date food. A thought he hastily pushed into the back of his mind, reminding himself firmly he wasn't on a date.

"So, um, what were you and Athena going to do today?"

"Um... I'm not sure. I know she mentioned ice skating and the Freya Gail DuBois-Beaumont Botanical Gardens..."

"Okay," Clay nodded in understanding. "We can do that. Is there anything you want to do?"

Juniper thought for a minute. "How late will we be out?"

"I've no idea. However long you want to be?"

She smiled. "When you take me home, can we go see the holiday lights?"

Clay blinked. "Sure."

Juniper smiled. "Thank you, Clay."

"S-sure," he repeated.

"Is there anything you wanted to do, Clay?"

"Uh..." he bit into his crepe to give himself some thinking time. "You wanna do some Christmas shopping?"

Juniper nodded, still smiling serenely. "Sure."

Clay gave a small laugh, feeling relieved. "Great! So, uh, d'you want to go to the botanial gardens first?"

Clay honestly didn't get the appeal of the indoor gardens outside the beauty of it- Juniper seemed somewhat uninterested in that aspect, and more invested in what the plants did. Clay found it more worth it to watch her and listen than give his own input, letting her pull him along. He had a feeling Athena would probably know what she was talking about, that Apollo would most likely know, and was left mostly with regret that he didn't pay as close attention in school nor put in as much research effort as Apollo did.

"Did you know that?" Juniper's face was lit up with excitement. Clay felt himself go pink, having not been listening, but shook his head. Juniper pointed to a small, nearby cluster of plants, eagerly talking about the benefits they had to avoiding or at least soothing motion sickness.

"Do you get motion sick at work, Clay?"

"Sometimes, but not really badly," he said. "Usually just when Aura decides she needs a laugh at my expense and I'm in the gravity chair. At least she sort of apologises after..."

He tugged on a lock of his hair awkwardly. "I don't mind, though. I-I mean, it's not exactly fun, but... at least it prepares me if something happens in space."

They spent the entire morning in the botanical gardens, and by lunchtime, Clay felt his theory that Athena had attempted to set Juniper on a date with Apollo was more-or-less confirmed. Juniper showed Clay a small, warm, homey little cafe for them to eat lunch at. A place she seemed to go often enough, as she was recognised by two of the staff members and an elderly patron, who Juniper introduced as Mrs van Riker. Who, to Clay's deepest embarrassment, immediately assumed him to not only be Apollo, but be Juniper's boyfriend.

"Oh, n-no! No," he waved his hands, blushing scarlet. "Apollo's my best mate. I'm Clay- Clay Terran. And, uh, n-no, June-Juniper is, uh, my friend. N-not my... I mean, she's a girl who is, uh, my friend but she's not- not my girlfriend."

(Splendid... could I make it more obvious? I hope she's just as painfully oblivious as Apollo...)

To Clay's increased embarrassment, they were invited to share Mrs van Riker's table over lunch, during which he was endlessly quizzed about himself and Juniper. Clay had a hard time dealing with her, not least because she was thoroughly convinced that Clay was very attracted to Juniper and kept drawing attention to it, no matter what Juniper said to the contrary.

"I, uh, I need to go... and, uh, I'll be right back!" Clay scuttled off, wondering if this crippling feeling of utter humiliation was why they called it having a "crush". He really couldn't keep a level head with Juniper, something he genuinely wasn't used to. Clay had never been shy in his life until meeting Juniper, and he was always the first person to point out that he was a lot more brazen and brash than even Apollo, and always the first person to run headlong into something that might even remotely be fun. "Shy" simply wasn't in his dictionary.

"Clay, I'm busy, what?" Apollo snapped when he answered the phone.

"I don't know what to say to her!"

There was a long pause on the other end of the line, and Clay knew from experince Apollo was frowning, his brow furrowed. He could picture the expression clearly in his mind. He heard Apollo make a quiet tutting sound with his tongue when he opened his mouth to reply. "What do you mean you don't know what to say to her? Where are you?"

"I-I'm having lunch with her."

"So talk about the food. Talk about her."

"I can't. June decided to sit at this this table with this woman who won't leave me alone! She can sense it."

"Sense what? Oh, she can tell you like Juniper?"

"So it seems. I just... I need your advice."

"Why mine? I told you, I'm terrible with love advice, I don't know anything."

"What would you do if you were here?"

"Well... I dunno. If I were you? Calm down, take a breath, just talk to her. Don't be so worried about getting her to like you or whatever it is that's got you so nervous you left her to call me."

Clay sighed, removing his visor to run his hand through his thick black hair. "Yeah."

"Talk to her about work."

"My work?"

"Ms Woods doesn't work to my knowledge, so yes, you. You could always ask her about her work, though, to check. I need to go back to work."

"How is that going, anyway?"

"Work? Fine. Some people," Apollo was clearly throwing his boss a look, "are utterly lost when it comes to doing things that aren't Solitare or adding their signature to something I already filled out! I didn't cancel my day plans, on my day off, to come in and clean toilets!"

"Uh, Apollo?"

"No, I didn't cancel a date with my girlfriend; Juniper isn't my girlfriend! I was supposed to be off today!"

"Uh, Apollo, weird emphasis there."

"What?" Apollo addressed Clay, then his boss. "W-wait, no that's- I didn't mean-!"

Apollo hung up the phone from Clay, leaving Clay feeling amused by Apollo's slip-up, and very slightly hurt by the fact that Apollo didn't tell him about having a girlfriend. He tucked his phone back in his pocket and returned to the table, finding Juniper chatting animatedly with Mrs van Riker about homemade pies. She smiled when she saw Clay.

"There you are, Clay! Where have you been?"

"Just... had to make a phone call," he said, taking a deep breath before he addressed her and smiling. "Hi."

Juniper smiled wider, tilting her head to the side. "Hi."

Clay sat down to finish his lunch, meeting Juniper's eyes and smiling, his cheeks going rather pink. Juniper took a sip of her rose tea.

"So, uh, Juniper," Clay kept his eyes on his chocolate tart. "You know I'm an astronaut, but you've never told me what you do."

Mrs van Riker squinted at Clay. "You're no astronaut."

"Actually, he is," said Juniper. "Clay's even been in the papers."

"Yeah, but not for being an astronaut..." Clay mumbled. "I was in the papers because I was reported as murdered cuz my boss had to fake my death."

Absently, he rubbed his chest where the stab wound was. Juniper brushed a loose whispy lock of her hair back, looking at Clay. "Does it hurt?"

"Nah," he waved a hand. "The worst I get is occasional chest pain if I do too much physical stuff. Uh, excercise. I meant excercise, not-not 'physical stuff'. I mean, excersise is physical stuff but, uh..."

Juniper giggled. "Clay, you're always so funny."

Clay stewed silently in his embarrassment. He wasn't trying to be funny, though he had to admit, he adored her laugh, even if it was at his expense. Mrs van Riker left, leaving Clay and Juniper alone.

Juniper took a sip of her tea. "I was going to tell Thena while we were out, but I can tell you first instead."

"What?"

Juniper's smile was radiant. "On Saturday, I'll be a judge in court for the very first time. A real court!"

Clay's dark eyes widnened. "For real? That's really cool, Juniper! Wow!"

She beamed. "Thank you, Clay! I'm excited for it. Nervous, but... excited."

"You'll be fine, I'm sure of it. ... Apollo has a lot of faith in you."

"He does?" Clay felt the usual stab of jealousy as her face lit up at the mention of Apollo.

"Well, yeah. He thinks you'll be a really good judge. Trusts you to, uh, make the right judgement," he turned bright red again at his unintentional pun.

Juniper smiled gently. "You're so cute, Clay."

Clay's heart skipped a beat, feeling like he was going to faint from how much blood was in his face. He finished his lunch hastily, really wanting to get out of the little cafe and do something.

"I, uh, I'm ready to go, are you?"

Juniper nodded, taking the last sip of her tea and standing up, smiling at Clay. "Should we go Christmas shopping?"

Clay nodded. "S-sure."

Juniper walked with him down the crowded sidewalk to the mall. Snow had started to fall while they had been in the cafe. Juniper stayed close to Clay, drawing her cardigan closer around her. Clay shrugged out of his coat, putting it around her shoulders.

"Oh, no, Clay," she held up her hands to chest height. "Clay, I couldn't, you should- you'll get sick."

"Nah," Clay waved a hand. "You actually can't get sick from being cold, I thought you of all people would know that, June- Juniper."

"You're teeth are chattering!" it was amazing how scolding she sounded.

"I'm fine," he said gently. "Really, Juniper, I'm fine. My teeth aren't chattering. Honest."

"No, no, no," she pressed her coat back in his hands. "You k-keep it, I'll be just fine."

"Juniper-"

She gave him exactly the kind of look Clay used to get from his mother, and he was seized by a desire to laugh.

"I'll be just fine, Juniper. These muscles aren't just for show, you know. Or for, uh, heavy things. Lifting heavy things. I mean, they help. I, uh, I'll be fine. I promise," he wrapped it firmly around her shoulders. "And I hate to pull this card, but I also have a much stronger immune system than you."

"You just said that-"

"You can't get sick from being cold, but being cold does slow your immune system," he said. "Take my coat, Ms Woods."

Juniper gave a small sigh. "Fine. But under one condition."

"What?"

She unwound her scarf from around her neck. "You have to take this."

"Your scarf? But-"

"I won't take your coat unless you take my scarf," she said, standing on her tiptoes to throw her scarf around his neck.

"F-fine," Clay stuttered, his breath catching in his chest at her closeness. "Deal."

A lovely smile spread over her lips as she wrapped the scarf around his neck a third time before securing it in place neatly.

"There you go, Mr Terran," she said lightly. "Now you'll be warm."

She slipped her arms through the sleeves of Clay's coat and buttoned it up, smiling at him, obviously pleased that she'd gotten her way. Clay stepped back, swallowing hard, his heart hammering so hard he was sure she could hear it.

"So, um, what is Apollo doing?"

"Working. I guess his boss isn't used to being alone in the office anymore so doesn't know how to balance the work or something. He hasn't been the only lawyer for like, twelve years, and Apollo does a lot of work himself."

"Does he?" the pink colour in Juniper's cheeks rose. "He's so hard-working and dedicated..."

"He's always been like that, at least as long as I've known him," said Clay. "Apollo's a bit of a workaholic."

Clay shoved his hand in his trouser pockets, sighing. He really wished he didn't have to talk about Apollo while they walked through a park in a reasonably romantic snowfall. Surrounded by couples on dates. Clay had never noticed so many couples before outside Valentine's Day, and did his level best to keep a bit of distance between himself and Juniper without offending her. Juniper seemed not to notice, smiling serenely as she walked along beside him to the mall.

Juniper got close to him when they entered the mall, which was full of other shoppers, her soft voice barely audible above them as she asked where he wanted to go.

"I, uh, I'm not sure," he said. "There's a lot of shopping I need to get done. Well, not a lot, uh, just-just like... Apollo and two of my work friends. And-and I have to get something to wear for my work's Christmas party next week. Do you want to come with me?"

He hadn't meant to say it, but she nodded. "All right. I can do that, since you came out with me today despite it being so last-minute."

Clay stared. "S-seriously? You'll come with me?"

Juniper's smile widened slightly. "Of course. I'd love to. When is it?"

"N-next Saturday. The twentieth."

"Okay. I'll definitely be there," she said, grinning. "Promise."

Clay gave her a bright, thousand-watt smile. "Thanks so much."

The ever-present pink patches in Juniper's cheeks became more prominent. Clay had a very attractive smile. Juniper tugged Clay into a clothing store, which wasn't terribly packed.

"What, what kind of party is it, Clay?"

"Semi-formal, I think? Mostly I think they just want us to wear colours appropriate for the, uh, holiday, you know- green, red, gold, and white. Which is the reason I have to go, and uh, go and shop."

"Fair enough," she said. "Let's get that figured out first, all right?"

Clay nodded, allowing Juniper to lead him by the sleeve around the store to the men's section. Clay let her pick things out for him, and had a hard time keeping down his blush when she would adjust something on his outfit, smoothing his collar. Her fingers caught on the ball-link chain around his neck, and she pulled out a trio of metal tags.

"What're these?"

"My dog tags for work," Clay said, taking them from her and showing her the two plain ones, then dropping them as he tried to show her the third one, "and-and my allergy tag."

"Allergy?"

"I'm pretty allergic to ginger," Clay said, showing her the writing on the tag. "Since it prevents me from breathing and, uh, by extension speaking, I have this tag so people can know what's wrong. Makes the winter seasons a-a lot of, uh, a lot of fun, with gingerbread everywhere. I mean, I can touch gingerbread, I love making gingerbread houses, but I can't eat them. I used to make them all the time with the younger kids at the orphanage."

"Oh," Juniper observed the ID tags with interest. "Why do you need dog tags for work?"

Clay rolled his eyes and re-entered the dressing room. "Because the new director is ex-military, and Director Hunter thinks we need them. I don't mind, they're kinda cool, but he always acts like we're going to die in space and someone's going to need to ID our bodies. Because I guess people regularly go for strolls in space and could come across corpses or something."

Juniper gave a small giggle. "It does seem a little ridiculous when you put it that way..."

"... Uh... June? I think I need help."

"What's wrong?"

"I'm stuck," he said, opening the dressing room door with some difficulty. "I can't get it back down, and I can't get it off because it's caught and it's sticking to my undershirt. Can you help me?"

His arms were stuck in the air, pinned in place by the jumper, and he was peeking at her from inside a tunnel of white wool. Juniper failed to suppress a giggle behind her fingers, watching Clay straighten upwith a sigh. She eyed his well-toned stomach, lips parted, absentmindedly running her hand along his stomach. Clay tensed, his breath hitched. Her hands were so small and warm... He swallowed hard.

"June-Juniper, you can feel my muscles up when you get this thing off my head. My arms are going to sleep."

Juniper blushed, running her fingers under the hem of the jumper to find where it had caught. She stood on her tiptoes, pulling it over his shoulders and his head. Clay rested his hands on her back.

"Thanks," he said, his eyes on hers. He rested his hand on her cheek, smiling gently.

Juniper blushed furiously, backing away from him and turning the sweater rightside in, handing it and his undershirt back before scurrying off to get a different one. Clay shrugged, walking back into the stall, himself pink in the face. Juniper returned, tapping gently on the door.

"I'm not going to lie," Clay said as he unlatched it. "I feel pretty good about this one."

"Which one-?" Juniper's sentence ended on a laugh. "Clay, when did you pick that up?"

"It-It called out to me," he said, amused. "Check this out! It lights up!"

As it transpired, the sweater not only lit up, but played tinny music. Clay snorted with laughter, clearly not having expected that.

"I guess I don't need that dollar store tie that plays music when I have this. Maybe we should wear matching horrific jumpers, Juniper. We can be the most attractive people there in our tacky jumpers."

Juniper giggled, shaking her head. "I don't think so."

"I'll get this anyway. I never have a thing to wear for ugly sweater day. Or to wear in public when I'm around Apollo to embarrass him."

"Here," Juniper handed him a crisp, soft white jumper. "Bigger size."

"Thanks..."

It took another twenty minutes for them to leave the store and get back to shopping, and night was falling by the time they'd finished.

"You still want to go skating?"

"Do you not want to?"

"No, I do," Clay assured her. "I just wanted to know if you did, since it's getting so dark."

"It's nearing the solstice, Clay. It's to be expected," she said. "Besides, wouldn't it be nice to go skating under the stars?"

"S-sure, of course it would."

"So let's go!"

"Okay. But if you start to get too cold, we can go warm up in the car, okay?"

Juniper smiled. "I know."

Clay had not been ice skating in a long time, but it seemed that he would never forget the feeling of it. Due to the hour and the winter chill, they had much of the outdoor rink to themselves. Juniper, it turned out, was a very good ice skater. Clay let her skate ahead just to watch her.

"Thena and I used to skate a lot on the little lake near my house," she said.

"Really?"

"Mh," Juniper nodded. "The surface is always pretty smooth, like a mirror, and the water is very clear."

She skated backwards, looking at Clay. "I've had a really nice time today, thank you."

Clay shook his head. "Don't thank me- I had a really nice time, too."

Juniper smiled. "We should do this more often."

"You want to?"

"Of course," she said. "I said I had a nice time with you. Maybe next time, Thena and Apollo can come with."

"Ah, yeah. Maybe."

Juniper smiled, her hands behind her back. "I think it would be even more fun that way, Clay. But I did get to know you better today."

"Y-yep," he pressed his lips firmly together, losing his balance and stumbling, but managing to stay upright. He cleared his throat. "And I got to know you, better, too, June-Juniper."

She smiled again and turned her back on him. Clay looked up at the starry sky and sighed, "and of course, I just fell even more in love with you..."

Her cell phone rang, but Clay wasn't in range to hear her. She frowed, shaking her head, turning around once again and looking at Clay. When he caught up to her, she held her phone out to him.

"Thena wants to talk to you."

"She does? Why?"

Juniper shrugged. Clay put the phone to his ear apprehensively. "Clay Terran."

"What are you doing with Junie?!"

"Uh, spending time with her because you can't?"

"Apollo was supposed to be with her today!"

"He couldn't do it, Mr Wright called him in. So he asked me to come with her," Clay said, skating off to the side. "Look, Ms, uh, Cykes, I know what you're trying to do, and... to be honest, I don't think you're going to have a whole lot of luck with him."

"What's that supposed to mean? What are you talking about?"

"I know you're trying your best to set June up with Apollo. I know June likes him, I'm not stupid," he sighed. "But it won't work. She's not Apollo's type. I don't know what his type is, really, but June is not it-"

"June?"

Clay flushed. "Juniper. Apollo has never gone for the soft-spoken, sweet, quiet, polite, innocent girls. He sees them more like sisters. Believe me, I know."

Athena was silent, and Clay could practially feel her death glare.

"Every single girl I've ever dated has been a lot like Ms Woods," Clay said, careful to use her last name. "And every time I got broken up with, it was because she met and fell for Apollo. He's charming, he's charismatic, he manages to be cute and handsome. He's-he's prince charming and a knight in shining armor. I guess girls like that."

Athena sighed. "Some of us. Not me. Knights don't do it for me. Neither do princes. But Junie-"

Clay hung up on her, skating over to Juniper and handing her back her phone. She opened her mouth to ask what Juniper had asked him, but chose not to at the look on his face.

"Are you okay?"

Clay's lips fluttered as he exhaled. "Yeah. I'm good, Juniper."

Juniper took his hands in hers. She didn't believe him, but she smiled, pulling him along. "They announced couples skate while you were talking with Thena. So if we want to keep skating, we have to hold hands until it's over."

"I, uh, m-maybe we should sit? Un-unless you-?"

"I don't mind. Couples just means skating in pairs."

Clay nodded. "I, uh, I think- whatever you want to do."

Juniper tilted her head to the side. "You look pale."

"Just a little cold," he said. "I'm fine."

"Let's go look at the lights, then," she said. "It'd be warmer in your car."

"S-sure. Besides, it's starting to snow again."

Juniper lit up as Clay drove through subdivisions full of elabourate fairy light displays. Clay drove slow, watching her adn ocasionally pointing lights out to her. Juniper, in turn, sometimes would excitedly out her hand on his arm, pointing out a display. By the time she was ready to go home, it was very late.

"Clay," she looked at him, her dark, beautiful eyes reflecting the twinkling lights out his window. "Why don't you stay with me tonight?"

"What?"

"I can't let you walk through the woods alone, and it's very late. There's a spare room you can stay in. I don't mind. So either you stay with me, or I stay with you. Because you're not going to walk through the woods from my home alone. It's too dangerous."

She looked at him, determination in her eyes. Clay sighed. "I'm... not going to win, am I?"

"Nope."

"Athena will have my head for this..." Clay said under his breath. "I'll call Apollo, then, let him know. Are you warm enough?"

Juniper nodded. "I am, thank you."

Apollo sounded oddly breathless when he answered the phone, and he seemed very impatient to get off the phone. Clay arched his eyebrows at the car speakers and the sound of Apollo's voice.

"You sound out of breath, what on earth are you doing?"

"Obviously, I am making out with my very attractive and very secret girlfriend. What else would I be doing?"

"You know, I could do without the sass, Apollo. I was just asking. I'm taking Juniper home and she's made it clear I'm staying as a guest with her tonight since it's so late."

"Really? All right, then. Guess it's just me and my paperwork tonight. Good night."

"Night."

Clay could only describe the silence from Juniper as odd. He reached over and patted her hand. "I'm pretty sure he was joking, Juniper."

"What?"

"About having a girlfriend. Apollo's... oblivious to girls. Always has been. I wouldn't worry if I were you. The only way he'd have a girlfriend is if she was extremely blatant."

"How so?"

"Uh... I dunno what would get through to Apollo exactly. You would have to be very obvious."

Juniper quietly directed him towards her cottage. Clay parked where she indicated, in a small clearing at the base of a very steep and narrow footpath. It was a long, cold walk up to her house, even moreso thanks to the higher altitude. Her house was almost exactly as Clay envisioned it- picturesque, and in winter, like a holiday greeting card. The cottage was situated in a pretty, snow-covered clearing, a quaint picket fence installed around it to keep the garden tame. Juniper let him in, putting a finger to her lips.

"Your gran asleep?" Clay whispered. She nodded, leading him upstairs.

"She sleeps downstairs," she said in a normal tone once they were partway down the hall. "This is the bathroom right here, you can shower if you need to as well, and this is the guest room."

She put her hand gently on a door on the opposite side of the hallway, then pointed at the end of the hall.

"If you need me... that's my room."

"Okay. W-will-will do."

Juniper smiled, taking her long hair down from its bun, starting to twist it in a fishtail braid. "Well, good night then, Clay."

"S-sweet dreams, Ms Woods."


End file.
